Monday, April 23, 2007

Monday 04/23 A.M. Quickie:Still Here (Unlike the Mavs' Chances)

Warriors shock Mavs in Game 1: And, all of a sudden, my "Warriors in 7" (or, more accurately, Warriors AT ALL) doesn't look SO crazy. A healthy Baron Davis is a Top 10 MVP-caliber Baron Davis.

(I could talk about the Mavs giving up home-court advantage as quickly as they seemed to earn it during the regular season, but I'd much rather point out that the Warriors are now 4-0 against the Mavs this season with Nelson as coach. Matchups, matchups, matchups...)

Nuggets shock Spurs: Hell, I should have picked THIS upset, too. Want to know why Denver traded for AI mid-season? Those 61 combined points with Carmelo to lead the Nuggets over the Spurs in San Antonio. (During the regular season, they averaged 55 ppg combined.)

Barbosa out-duels Bryant: Leandro Barbosa may have had "only" 26 points to Kobe's 39, but you know Kobe is going to get his, but Barbosa's scoring explosions always seem to feel like a bonus. Plus, Barbosa seemed to hit his when it mattered more.

More NBA Playoffs: So, I guess the Raptors fans still carry a WEE bit of a grudge against Vince Carter (Pistons fans are just plain being mean when they boo Darko)...

Luol Deng as the next Dwyane Wade? I don't think so, but that was Deng's "breakout" game...

If the Wiz could hit more than 33 percent of their shots, they might not get swept by the Cavs (but that's no guarantee). Cavs fans better hope LeBron's ankle heals up...

Is this the first-round playoff series that T-Mac finally escapes?

Red Sox sweep Yankees: What will they play – like 45 more times this season? It's hard to get TOO worked up. But it certainly establishes a certain early-season bragging rights. And perhaps foreshadowing...

(Update: I'm already getting crap in the Comments for not mentioning the "back2back2back2back." So there you go.)

Bonds Watch: 740, and by all accounts, he is hammering the ball this month (6 HR this season). If you presume that, no matter what you think about the rest of his career, he's clean now, that's pretty impressive a 42-year-old can crush the ball like he is right now. (All those "over-under" picks on when he hits 16 more and passes Hank Aaron are going to be WAY long.)

MLB Studs: The Orioles, who have won 4 in a row (and 8 of 9!) after sweeping the Blue Jays in Baltimore for the first time in 13 years. Wait: Are the O's this year's Jays? It would be WAY more unexpected than Toronto's runner-up finish a year ago.

NFL Draft: OK, this final few weekdays before the draft are filled with more lies, deception and misdirection than any other stretch of the year (in any sport). I find it hard to put too much stock in anything a coach says or any gossip an NFL "expert" reports.

However, I do appreciate the attempts by the NFL; it's a nice reminder that they're in the business of winning games and running businesses, not serving as fodder for sports-talk radio, TV and online. (Like, say, the Bucs not being interested in trading up from No. 4 in order to get Calvin Johnson; maybe they know that the WR will be there for them without paying the price of a trade?)

Now, how about NON-draft-related rumors, like the Chiefs looking to trade Larry Johnson? (Speaking of rumors, can't wait to see what Fanhouse lead-blogger Michael David Smith – aka "MDS" – will do with his new platform at ProFootballTalk. Looking forward to that.)

Jordan Classic: It's going to be very interesting to see game MVP Corey Fisher in a backcourt with super-frosh Scottie Reynolds next season for Villanova.

Back to my mini-vacation... But, as always, please feel free to add/expand on any of the day's biggest storylines.

OK, So I know it April but Dan how can you mention the Red Sox - Yankees series and not mention last nights back to back to back to back home runs. You and your instant history should recognize that was little bit of history. Only the second time it has been done off of one pitcher.

And here is the Irony the last time it was done Terry Francona's Father was one of the guys who hit a home run

Red Sox "sock" 4 consecutive homers? On 10 pitches? Against the Yankees? Highlight of my baseball season thus far. It was like watching batting practice. And you could just feel each at-bat after Manny's initial shot morphing into that moment. When Varitek came up, didn't you just know it would happen? And even through the TV youd could tell just how loud Fenway was. Amazing.

Really the best moment of the series for my was Friday night watching the Red Sox just batter Rivera and then having Okajima come in and get the save. As well as Pedroia's catch in the 8th inning last night. Oh yeah and A-Rod failing to deliver both times he had a chance to in the 9th inning on Friday and Sunday.

Not only did Dan not mention the back-to-back-to-back-to-back homeruns, but neither did AM Jump. (I don't think I noticed it as I skimmed it.) The Sox get no respect! (That comment should make a lot of non-New Englanders happy.)

If it was Jeter, Abreu, A-Rod and Giambi who hit those homeruns all we would hear about is how "You can never count the Yankees out" and "This is why Boston-New York is so much fun" and "this is the best hitting lineup in baseball." God I hate the Yankees. (And their media whores.) Sorry guys, I'm a little hungover today, hence the anger.

the second lead story - directly to its right - is sox hit four homers...sorry that the NBA playoffs got the lead over a regular season baseball game in april. its not good enough to win, you need espn to slurp you too?

despite it being an incredibly frustrating weekend, i took comfort in the fact that the sox threw their three best starters and the yanks threw their third best and two rookies and we lost by a combined four runs. dice-k giving up six in 7+ his first time facing the yanks was also pretty comforting

If I was a yankees fan the thing that would scare me the most at the moment is my bullpen which basically cost them 2 of the games and at the pace they are pitching they are going to be over used come August.

interesting comparision if you look at the 2 bullpens over the weekend.

Yeah, as a Sox fan, it's obviously great sweeping the Yankees, but considering who the Yankees threw on Sat. and Sun., it really wasn't all that unexpected.

The back-to-back-to-back-to-back thing was just silly. But CMfost was right, the peak of the series for me was the Okajima save after the blown save for Rivera.

While this is April, and this series doesn't mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of a 162 game series, it sure does look like this will be another classic Joe Torre year where he overuses a few guys in the bullpen until their arms fall off. It'll be interesting to see how many innings guys like Proctor, Bruney, et al pitch this year.

NDYANK - I will give you the Red Sox starters did not have there best game but they did what they had to to keep the Red Sox in the games and pitched long enough to allow the bullpen to be used properly.

i'd agree the bullpen was bad...not good at all. i fully expect rivera to bounce back, but we definitely need viscaino to step it up. way too many walks out of that guy. thats the part of the weekend that was extremely frustrating. when torre is relying on pettite out of the pen after he pitched friday you know there is something wrong.

also, i realize papplebon (sp?) is really really good and not to take away from his talent...but he looks like the biggest d-bag in the world when he stares into the catcher before he throws. espn needs to stop zooming in...it looks like he is taking a huge crap

How can you say a win in April is not important? Let's say the Yankees lose the division by one game to the Red Sox, you do not think that people will look back to the game on Friday when Rivera blew the save as the game that could of made a difference. Yes it is April but a game in April counts as much in the standings as a game in August.

And if I am the Red Sox, Baltimore or Toronto I try to put as many game between myself and the Yankees as I can well they are having there injury issues.

Hey, don't rag on Papelbon's "mean" face. Besides, doesn't Jon Lieber hold the ultimate reign on the constipation face? If you're gonna rag on Papelbon, do it because he's a total hick... but damnit I love him on my team! He owned Jeter in his ABs this weekend.

But yeah, the way the Sox bullpen has been thus far is very exciting for Red Sox fans. What looked like a huge weakness coming into the year, has thus far been one of its strong points. Papelbon, Okajima, Donnelly, Timlin, Pineiro, Snyder, Romero seems like a pretty good bullpen right now.

I'm so glad we spent all that money on that Japanese pitcher. That guy's awesome! And that Matsuzaka guy ain't bad either.

As a big Yankee fan, I was worried in March about the Yankee rotation and due to injuries it is worse than I thought it would be. Pitching wins games and if you don't have it, you won't win.

Charles Barkley is right. When the Mavs starting 5 helped win the most games in the NBA, you don't change your lineup to hopefully match up better against the 8th seed. I predicted the Nets would beat Toronto and it looks even better after game 1. Wizards have no chance and Cleveland was lucky to draw them.

Only one game 7 in NHL first round which is tonight. Rangers are the big underdog so far in the playoffs to win their series.

Some teams are built to just make the playoffs and be real tough in the playoffs. I would say that teams with a few top players but not that much depth are the teams that are scarier in the playoffs. Depth matters more over a long season. Forget seeds, would anyone really want to play Denver or the Nets right now in the playoffs? Even the Sabres have to be a little nervous about the Rangers.

The Red Sox won because even though their pitchers gave up a good number of runs, they still pitched deep into the games. Let's face it, against the Yankees, 5 runs in 7 innings isn't that bad. Keep the load on the bullpen short. And Okajima was the stud of the series, really.

The NBA draft is better than the NFL draft because there's just way too much time between picks. The NBA is rapid-fire compared to the NFL. By the time the NFL hits its rapid rounds, it's all people nobody's heard of anyway.

And let me be the first to say that if I hear the phrase "back to back...jacks" or any takeoff on it one more time, I'm going to shoot out the TV, Elvis-style.

NYR-NJ-Buffalo-Ottawa. Talk about a very small quadrilateral containing the Eastern semifinals.

I think the Yankees are fine. They just need their starting pitchers to last more than 5 innings to spare their bullpen arms....I know it's April, but I'm kind of painfully looking forward to an ALCS between the Sox and Yanks. Schilling/Beckett/Dice-K/Wakefield vs. Wang/Pettitte/Clemens/Mussina and with those lineups.

Jeff Gordon, after doing everything but win during the season’s first seven races, trimmed Phoenix International Raceway from the list of tracks where he’s never won. Now only Texas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami remain, ripe for Gordon’s picking.

By winning the Subway Fresh Fit 500, Gordon hiked his points lead and tied Dale Earnhardt for sixth place on NASCAR’s all-time list of race winners. He could make the most significant pass of his career next week at Talladega Superspeedway, long an Earnhardt family stronghold, by claiming career victory No. 77.

Can we just end the baseball season today so the O's make the wildcard? I didnt think so.

It just feels different to have hope for once. I still think they end up with 79 to 83 wins. BUt there is at least progress and less despair than previous seasons. It doesnt take much to please an O's fan these days.

Oh no, not that asshole...I hear he's liberal, therefore he's a prick! There's no way that anyone who says anything bad about Bush can possibly good at a job showing football highlights. NBC should pre-emptively fire him immediately!

verbal and doom are clearly communist terrorists attempting to infiltrate our homes and minds with their liberal propoganda machines - also when thrown into a pond they most likely float...burn them! burn them!

however, i think KO is a d-bag and if he tries to bring politics regularly into the debate it is going to suck the life out of the program.

Please Please PLEASE!!! Lets keep this to sports comments only. I love delving into politics just as much as the next guy, but I feel like if we start to debate politics, everyone's just going to get pissed and we're going to make enemies. We all seem to get along for the most part. Lets keep it that way.

I like the list of the hardest ticket in sports. The bottomline is that pro football is the hardest though. 8 home games. College has a shot but the most popular teams play in huge stadiums. I'd like to point out that I am a die-hard Redskins fan and it has never even occured to me to go to a game. It's impossible. 40 years of straight sellouts.

As far as the O's go... I love them, but let's be honest. They'll finish above .500 but they have to beat out the Yanks, Jays, and then 3 of the 4 from the White Sox, Indians, Twins, and Tigers. The AL is crazy competitive.

If you didn't watch the NBA playoffs you missed some crazy stuff. Warriors over Mavs obviously, but if you didn't catch a glimpse of T-Mac you missed out. He's getting out of the 1st round this time. Finally, one of the greatest scorers of all-time will get his shot. Kobe got his in the 1st half but couldn't go 48 minutes in the Suns' "less than 7 seconds offense". The Nuggets took Game 1 from the Spurs who broke some sort of record as being the first team that looks like it collectivly lost a step.

Pistons almost blew one against the Magic and the Heat (read: Shaq) got screwed by the refs. Nets took one from the Raptors and it looked like it was mostly experience that came through. LeBron James is a great player.

1. A-Rod's historic April. Hate the contract, hate A-Rod, there's still no denying what he's doing right now is absolutely historic. While the Yankees fans who booed A-Rod last year and on opening day may be cheering for him now, this historically great start means that it's even more important for him to hit well down the stretch and in the post-season. But for now, every time he comes to bat is exciting.

2. Josh Hamilton - Hamilton isn't exactly a worthy candidate for a down-on-his-luck kind of guy that would appear in a feel-good, rated G movie. But his success thus far this year, after his numerous off-the-field demons, has been incredible. Shows that giving people numerous chances is a good thing.

3. Cold Weather - While it's warming up now, the snow-out in Cleveland and the subsequent home games in Milwaukee are pretty tough to forget. This will become a big story again as soon as there's an onslaught of double-headers later in the year.

4. The return of the Braves - The run of making the playoffs had to end at some point, right? Well, the Braves are already looking like they're a likely candidate to get back to the postseason in 2007. What makes their early success legitimate is that they've done very well against the Mets, their division rival and by most accounts, best team in the NL.

5. Matsuzaka - Every time he pitches, it's a lead story. While he's only had 1 amazing start, he's pitching well enough for his team to win in most games.

Didn't it reek of a little desperation during an April game to use Pettite in relief? Cashman should be looking for some serious starting help soon if his guys continue to not get out of the 5th inning. Even with Wang and Mussina, you're likely talking 2 out of every 5 days where you need 4 innings of relief a piece. We may see Proctor's arm fall off at some point.

I didn't have Bonds on my list either, but mine was a conscious decision. Like Hank and Bud, I refuse to recognize Bonds' accomplishments. For me, it's like nobody is closing in on the record.

And much as I like him, the way Torre is handling the pitching staff is criminal. Rivera (who wasn't hit all that hard on Friday night in my opinion) is not a 2 inning save guy anymore, maybe in October, but certainly not April. Also, I thought the point of not giving Bernie a roster contract was that they wanted an extra bullpen arm so that they wouldn't have to overwork anyone too soon, and now Pettite's pitching relief. Just a bizarre series. (I obstained from saying anything earlier because it seemed to have all been said, but I had to vent).

There have been some great story lines already (A-Rod's start, no hitter, and back to back to...), but the story lines that will have the most impact on the season are the cold weather and the injuries. Almost every team lost at least one game to weather already, so there will be a lot of double headers. Cleveland has a lot to make up, which could seriously harm them later if they are able to compete in the central at all.

The injuries definitely seem to be taking a lot more high profile guys out early. By the time some of these guys come back (Wang, Mussina, King Felix, etc.), their teams could be in a big early hole.

And the Redskins will sell out for now to eternity, by Dan Snyder design (even with a 92K seat stadium that is the biggest in the NFL). 100% of the tickets to FedEx field are season tickets, so he's sold out without any ticketmaster type sales. The lower levels have 5-15 year contracts (depending on location) and the upper levels have a waiting list of 20K + just to get in the door. And that's for a crappy stadium (it really sucks!) and a bad team.

I can't believe this hasn't been mentioned as a top storyline or even contender: The imminant sale of the CubsI realize it won't happen until after the season but it's already had its affect as the fact that Zambrano hasn't gotten his extension yet.

How big can a football stadium REALLY get, anyways? I know colleges are pushing 110K....but unless you want to put the field 100 feet below ground level, there's just no way you can build it high enough, is there? Most of the 70K-size stadiums have at least some semblance of an open end....I wonder why bother with that, if you could just encircle it like a bowl.

Either the Cubs ownership situation has stalled, or the Cubs have realized that it might not be in their best interest to spend another very large, long-term contract on a head-case pitcher with an ERA above 7.

I know Zambrano is going to come around, but I guess we could imagine the same fate for Schmidt and Zito. Heck, the highest paid Yankee pitcher has made 2 relief appearances this year, but hasn't been dazzling in his starts.

Long-term, big dollar contracts for pitchers are probably a bigger crap shoot than for hitters.

I know people that have been to FedEx Field and they say that it is beautiful. But HUGE. In the DC area, we love nice stadiums. We don't put up with crap. The Phonebooth is state of the art. I've been there and, WOW. The luxury boxes are ridiculous. Everyone knows that Camden is very nice. The Nats new stadium is rumored to go straight to the top of the list as great ballparks. I wonder if that will lead to tons of people going down to Nats/O's to see the parks in a 2-day span.

I know that the new Twins stadium is supposed to be pretty sweet. They're saying it's not going to be another Camden Yards or any of the other cookie cutter ballparks. It's going to be pretty awesome though. Now, if they could just settle the land dispute.....

I don't think any player has ever hit a walk-off grand slam and a walk-off three-run home run in April. But considering he's only 2 HRs off the April record (set last year), and 4 RBI off, with like 6 games left to play, I think there's a damn good chance it'll be a record breaking/historic April.

Look, I hate A-Rod as much as the next guy, but he's freakin' awesome right now. You can't tell me as a Red Sox fan that everytime he was up this weekend, you didn't cringe a bit. Right?

On April 7, 2007, in the Yankees fourth game of the season, Rodriguez hit two home runs against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium, including a walk-off grand slam, the third of his career, tying the major league mark shared by Vern Stephens and Cy Williams.On April 19, 2007 the New York Yankees came from behind to defeat the Cleveland Indians 8-6—with Rodriguez hitting walk-homer. On April 20, 2007 Rodriguez hit two home runs making him the fastest player in MLB history to hit 12 home runs in a season (15 games).

As a Red Sox fan I did not cringe at all both times he came up in the 9th inning and had a chance to get his tied or in the lead since I know it was A-Rod and when the pressure is on especially on the road, he fails.

"it's not going to be another Camden Yards or any of the other cookie cutter ballparks."

Wow, I never thought I would hear Camden Yards described as "cookie cutter" since it was built to get rid of the cookie cutter stadiums built in the 70s and 80s. I think Camden Yards has been the prototype for most baseball stadiums built since 1992. But the trend that Camden started was that stadiums should be unique and fit the urban environment where it is located. But I dont think that makes it cookie cutter.

Mike, that was a quote I heard someone say on the news when the plans were revealed. I wanna say it was the designer/architect that said it. It wasn't necessarily my opinion. Camden has become the standard for the new ballparks though.

I understand that Camden is now the standard but it's hard to have something as perfect at Camden. The clocktower and the warehouse give it a classic look. There is not a bad seat in the park. The bullpen with the ivy behind and high scoreboard in right give it a style look. Add Eutaw street and the area around the park and it's just something that has to be seen.

In my opinion, teams shouldn't try for another Camden. It's too hard. Camden was built as a one-of-a-kind. If you want a great park make your own one-of-a-kind.

I get to see OPCY for a third time Thursday night....different areas each time for seats. Down the line in left...awesome. 7th row box behind 1st base dugout....awesome. This time we'll be further back along right field area. Can only imagine awesome. and since Dice-K got pushed back by the rain a week ago, there may be room to move forward! But $15 for seats? Wow, that's super cheap!

Andy, it was probably some "consultant" paid by the Twin Cities. Actually, I hope they build a stadium that really shows off the natural beauty up there. But those April Twins games are going to be cold as anything! At least they will know who the true fans are!

Camden is really nice, I don't think I'd wax poetic about it like Mike, but the warehouse really gives the stadium a great feel. Also, the only time I've been there I sat in a pretty bad seat in left-field, but it was $5 with a student discount, so definitely no complaints there.

But I do like the idea of new "retro" ballparks like Camden that have all the modern conveniences but still have the overall feel of an older ballpark.

Jacobs Field is a great ballpark too. The upper deck in right field is a little far (I've never sat out there myself) but I've sat almost everywhere else, and the seats are pretty good. I like the bleachers, but of course, 7-8 rows behind the 1st base dugout is my personal best.

Glad to see the Sox could handle those rookie pitchers from NY that the Indians' couldn't figure out. {note the sarcasm}

I wouldn't call any of the new parks "cookie-cutter" like the old Vet/3 Rivers/ Busch/ Riverfront model, but a lot of the new parks have definitely tried to emulate Camden Yards, while putting the local spin on things. A lot of the new parks (see AT&T, Citizens Bank, new Busch, etc.) have used the red brick facade and trying to incorporate the local flavor into a OPCY-type design.

The new park in DC is going with the steel and glass look more like the Phone Booth (verizon center formerly known as mci center) or FedEx field. That will help us be different from the rest of the new red brick OPCY style designs of the other new stadiums.

Oh yeah, and FedEx is the most sterile feeling stadium in the world. It is HUGE, and the crowd is super loud, but the stadium itself has no character. It's just a really big bowl that is designed to fit as many people as possible. It's horrible!

When I was growing up, I used to hate the Forum in LA, because I was a Celtics fan and the hideous yellow floor was really ugly. Then when the Forum hosted the '84 Olympics, they had a completely different-colored floor, and I was like, wow, that looks really nice now.

When comparing NBA arenas, the lighting is the key on TV. MSG always seems a little dark on TV. Not as bad as the old Mecca in Milwaukee (the worst?), but not bright enough. The Boston Garden lighting always looked good, but the Shawmut Fleet TD Banknorth Center Garden is really ugly with the Bruins-colored seats....and that stands out worse when the Celtics green is juxtaposed against it.

@Verbal, I'll assume that your calling Fenway over-rated is similar to my non-inclusion of Yankees Stadium.

But what's more than just the history of Fenway, are the one-of-a-kind dimensions and the fact that it's a lot more intimate of a stadium. The stadium just isn't big enough to feel too far away from the action, though of course this means that inevitably you're closer than you'd like to the person sitting next to you.

Right field in Fenway is bad though, so if that's your only experience I could understand that. That and the top rows of the bleachers are the only places where you really feel far from the field.

Fenway and Wrigley are both great parks for the sense of history and awe. Neither are great for actually watching and enjoying a game. But, given a choice to go to any stadium for a big game, those would be my top 2 choices. In terms of great baseball venues, I would say:

I never think of an NFL stadium as needing any sort of personality. The real personality of the area is manifested in the outdoor tailgating. The game's like an afterthought, since pro football in person is endless. Points off to Gillette for the endless Route 1 traffic.

I've been to Fenway 20 times or so, and never on the third base side. Do those tickets really exist?

You right Todd, Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales. It was also the home of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League from 1921-1970.

L.A. had a Wrigley as well.

Wrigley Field was a ballpark in Los Angeles which served as host to minor league baseball teams in the region for over 30 years, and was the home park for the Los Angeles Angels in their expansion season of 1961.

Fenway and Wrigley are dumps. All the Boston fans I know say that if it wasn't for the tradition, they would have torn down that stadium a long time ago. A Boston newspaper guy I know said that now that the Yankees are building a new stadium, look for Boston to do the same. You heard it here first.

I was just reading about the Strahan yard sale. He must have had the worst divorce lawyer in history for that psycho ex-wife to get as much as she did! That being said, I wish I knew about the yard sale ahead of time. I might have gone up and bought a jersey or tv.

You're calling Fenway and Wrigley dumps, but you put Cameron Indoor on there? That place is awful minus the significance that it's where Duke plays.

But what is important about all those places is the tradition (and at Fenway the ridiculous dimensions). Part of the draw of Fenway is that there's no other stadium in baseball like it (for better and worse). Wrigley is about the Ivy, the atmosphere, and so many fan traditions.

But still, if you're calling out those places for being "dumps", you CAN'T list Cameron Indoor. That place doesn't even have AC!

Football, I'd like to go to Seattle, Pittsburgh, Washington, New England, and I won't have a 5th till the New Texas Stadium goes up. I still can't believe that they are buliding a 10 yard high, 20 yard wide, 60 yard long scoreboard. I know it's Texas and they like things big but if that falls off the ceiling it could cause an Armageddon-type earthquake.

True story about Fenway. Years ago we had season tickets (1st base line grandstand IIRC) to the Sox and when the playoffs came around, we were given seats out in the right field bleachers. In fact we were given seats in the second to last row of the right field bleachers. Those are seats you can't see on TV because they are in the shadow of the scoreboard in right. There were 5 chairs in the row and we didn't see a vendor after the 3rd inning. I just remember this because Wade Boggs hit a homerun over the monster and we didn't realize it until afterwards because we were sitting higher than the monster.

Kauffman stadium is pretty nice when the fountains are turned on. And uhm... that's probably the best I can say about the Royals and the stadium right now.

I like the Jake, but it has been passed by some of the other newer stadiums.

Fenway is a dump, but it's a historic dump. Again, it's a crappy place to watch a baseball game, but it's a must-see for any baseball fan, regardless of rooting interests.

Wrigley is a bit less of a dump than Fenway, but it isn't fantastic. But for most fans at Wrigley, the ticket is really an expensive cover charge. The things that most suck are the number of limited site seats -- like Fenway (I've been right behind a pole more than once in my life), and the rapid temperature changes. I've had seats on the 1st base line that started the game in the sun so I got really hot, but then the sun passed over, my seats were in the shade, with a wind off the lake, so I went from hot and sweaty to so cold I had to move in about an inning.

Ever notice we get the most posts on the days when Dan isn't around? The first day in the post-comment moderation period had 150+ posts, but moderation was only removed because he was gone that day (probably off optioning a screen play).

You'd think the quickie would at least mention the location of the vacation. Probably Gainesville for a few days? *smirk*

Our office went to Fenway for a game and the biggest guy (6-2, 300?) ended up walking around the concourse all night because he wouldn't fit in his seat. 23rd row behind home, just offset a few degrees, best Fenway seats I've ever had by far. Especially to see the knuckleball.

I've been the Yankee Stadium the last couple of years, it's much nicer than Shea.

@Rev, I don't actually watch Scrubs, but I've been told I should on numerous occassions.

As for the Jake, I agree that it's been passed by some of the newer stadiums (notably PNC and AT&T/SBC/Pac-Bell). Also when they had the sell-out streak I think it really added to the stadium's appeal.

I know the fact that I went to school there makes me biased, but University of Oregon has amazing hoops and football stadiums. The Pit is downright frightening (due to the fact that it was built way back when and uses more wood than steel, it literally shakes when the fans get going) and Autzen is one of the loudest in the country despite the fact that it only holds about 60,000. I'm just sad that The Pit is being replaced ...

The only bad part about the whole "B2B2B2B" for the Sox last night (aside from not seeing Wilfredo Modesto Pena hit a ball to Brighton for #5) was knowing I couldn't turn on WEEI to hear Jerry Trupiano blow an aneurysm calling the shots.

What a ridiculous weekend.

I refuse to comment on the NBA playoffs unless something never-before-seen happens. These things still have like 8 weeks left. I'm not too excited about Round 1 Game 1 wins.

I was so convinced that Willy Mo was gonna crush 1 into Vermont or something.

I was thinking, wait a sec... of his last 10 pitches 2 landed on the street, 1 landed in the top row over the monster, and the other was at least 430 to dead center, and now Torre is letting him pitch to Willy Mo? How is this smart?

big d~ I'm with you on the NBA playoffs. Yesterday, I looked to see if the Cavs won since I forgot they were playing in the afternoon. I'll check the scores from other games in the paper or the ticker on ESPN. I'll watch to see how far the Cavs get. Then I'll be heading to the Outer Banks in July.

Pistons/Magic Darko's return! Ok that's a stretchHeat/Bulls rematch of last year's series that resulted in a bunch of ejections and suspensionsCavs/Wiz not much but LeBron is always fun to watchRaptors/Nets VC's return, now that's betterMavs/GSW Nellie's revengeSpurs/Nuggs AI is 2nd in career playoff 40pt games and the Spurs are oldJazz/T-Mac I mean... Rockets. Right.Suns/Lakers see Heat/Bulls and substitute Wade/Shaq with Kobe/Amare/Nash

I like how on tv, they always show shots of Lake Michigan during Cubs games, when the park isn't that close to the water there.

The new DC stadium will have views of the capitol building, but those will be very short lived as there is a bunch of development coming between the stadium and the capitol dome. We'll still have the water views of the beautiful Anacostia river though.

Outer Banks are awesome.

Would Dan want Gabe to go to Florida for his rooting interests, or to Northwestern for an actual education? After all, Dan and his sister both went to NU, when there are perfectly good schools right where he's from (Georgetown, Virginia, Twerps).... Gabe's going to a school without any sports teams to rebel....

guy~ Lebron is fun to watch. Sad to admit that I have yet to go in person. I guess I should do that before he leaves. I had a million chances to see Michael Jordan in person too, but never went. tsk tsk

No mentions for Safeco Field? The Seattle stadia have always been great because of the location: right in downtown, next to the water. Nothing was louder than the Kingdome (sniff, sniff) during the early 80's Hawks and the '95 M's. However, Safeco has great views of the skyline, all the seats have great views, $7 centerfield seats (I was there for Felix's 0.1 inning on Wed - ugh) and a retractable roof (MLB should require all new stadiums in northern latitudes to have retractable roofs; places like CLEVELAND!!). Hand operated scoreboard in left, great restaurants, classis brick facade that meshes with Pioneer Square; what's not to like (and I'm not much of a baseball fan)?

you may not think it but RFK has a lot of charm and history. it was built int he 50's so that makes it a classic now. Plus the new nads owner sunk a lot of money into sprucing it up and adding better food/amenaties. You dont have to be an old Skins fan to appreciate it. Every true baseball fan should make an effort to see a game there before they open the new stadium in DC.

PSYCHE! RFK IS TEH WORSTEST!

what a great joke that would have been if someone had believed me and gone to see a game there. Its a disgusting stadium. if youre lucky enough not to get shot or mugged on your way to the entrence you are rewarded with a feast of brutally putrid architechture and design. plus the nationals suck. Oh and the food is mushy plastic and the beers are 7 bucks. haha washington, dc is a horrible place!

nadsfan - they always show the nyc skyline when the giants play but inbetween the meadowlands and manhattan is a FETID SWAMP. this is called clever camera tricks and such ruses are notorious in the television medium.

Wrigley is a shithole. I never understood the whole ivy thing. I mean, yeah it is unique and pretty cool, but it isn't nearly enough to overcome the rest of that dump. Not everything that is so old is good.

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.